1965 Topps #480 Joel Horlen
About Joel Horlen
A holdout for the second spring running, Horlen signed in mid-March and then carried the staff, leading the White Sox with 34 starts, 219 innings, four shutouts and a 2.88 ERA. His 13-13 record was the usual story: a 95-win, second-place club scored two runs or fewer in eight of his losses. He turns up twice in the 1965 set. Card #7 is a first-series League Leaders card pairing him with Dean Chance, the two men who finished one-two in the 1964 ERA race, and #480 is his own card in the sixth series.
Joel Edward Horlen, born August 14, 1937 in San Antonio, Texas, pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1961 through 1971 and closed his career with the 1972 Oakland Athletics. Friends called him Joe. He starred at Oklahoma State, leading the Cowboys past Arizona for the 1959 College World Series title before signing with Chicago, and he is the rare ballplayer to win a Pony League World Series in 1952, a College World Series, and a big-league World Series. A slender right-hander who lived on a hard curve, a sinker and fine control rather than velocity, he anchored a White Sox staff that pitched brilliantly and scored almost nothing, which is how Hard Luck Horlen got his name. From 1964 through 1968 he led all American League pitchers with a combined 2.32 ERA. In 1967 he no-hit Detroit, won the ERA title, made his only All-Star team and finished second in the Cy Young voting. Released in the spring of 1972, he caught on with Oakland and earned a World Series ring in relief that fall. He retired at 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA and 1,065 strikeouts in 2,002 innings, and was later inducted into the Oklahoma State and San Antonio Sports halls of fame. He died in his hometown on April 10, 2022, at 84.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 392 | 1 | 71 | 221 | 59 | 23 | 12 | 4 | 1 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1965 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Joel Horlen in this set: #7 League Leaders
Team card: #234 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #7 American League 1964 ERA Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #41 White Sox 1965 Rookie Stars
- #58 Fred Talbot
- #70 Bill Skowron
- #81 Don Buford
- #89 Mike Hershberger
- #125 Juan Pizarro
- #146 Ron Hansen
- #183 Dave Nicholson
- #198 Smoky Burgess
- #208 Tommy John
- #215 Pete Ward
- #253 Danny Cater
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #480 card?
It is card #480 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joel Horlen of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-11.